More farmers Join Protest at Delhi's Borders Following Harvest Season

The Samyukta Kisan Morcha (SKM) said that farmers in large numbers have begun flocking to Delhi after the harvesting season to bolster the agitation against the Centre's latest farm laws.

Just one way for the Centre to break the deadlock with the protesting farmers is for it to repeal the controversial farm laws and pass legislation ensuring the minimum support price (MSP), according to the study.

“Unless the government is similarly concerned about farmer welfare, the three laws should be repealed immediately and a new MSP law enacted. Farmers would only be able to roll back the protest if they use this method; otherwise, the protest would get stronger by the day,” he added.

Mr. Pal, who also attended the International Press Conference at the Press Club in Geneva practically, said that the Indian government refused to consult farmers, farmer organizations, citizens residing in rural areas, pro-farmer economists, or political parties while drafting the contentious legislation, in breach of a UN resolution that grants rural dwellers a right on such matters.

“While demonstrating against these Acts, we, the farmers of India, have a very legitimate argument, and the government has abused our rights as guaranteed by the United Nations declaration of 2018.” Second, we do not get MSP or a fair price for our crops, and we demand that our government pass legislation to address this,” Pal, who is also the president of the Punjab Krantikari Kisan Union, said.

The SKM said that, rather than improving the farm sector, the government is producing "cheap labor" in urban areas as a result of the "agrarian crisis." “There have been records of migrant laborers traveling long distances from all over the world. Neoliberal strategies are to blame for this threat. These three agricultural laws are a major step toward promoting these policies. “As a product of the free economy and privatization, tens of thousands of workers are now scavenging in cities for low wages,” it added.

“Rather than improving the farming sector, the government aims to establish cheap labor in urban areas by inducing an agrarian crisis, but farmers and laborers will strike back at all costs,” it said. Pal said farmer organizations and volunteers have begun packing food packets to be distributed at bus depots and railway stations in the national capital, amid an influx of migrant workers from the NCR due to the coronavirus-induced lockdown in Delhi.

“At the Anand Vihar bus stand, food was given to escaping migrant workers,” he said. The SKM also accused the BJP's IT cell of spreading false information about farmers obstructing the battle against the COVID-19 pandemic by blocking trucks carrying oxygen and other necessities on Delhi's outskirts, spreading the disease.

“All of these misleading narratives was condemned and opposed by the SKM. Farmers never intended to sleep on the streets or abandon their homes and property. Farmers have been treated inhumanely by the authorities, according to the farmers' organization.

“The farmers don't want something new; what they want is to keep what they have. They are battling both the coronavirus and the government in this fight for survival,” it said. The SKM also said that the government was "running away" from its obligations during the pandemic, but chose to blame the farmers instead.

In particular, considering the serious difficulties they face as a result of the continuing unrest, the demonstrators have been more than eager to assist locals and others on humanitarian grounds, according to the study.